The Sandoz unit of Novartis (NVS) is halting worldwide distribution of heartburn medicines containing high levels of a carcinogen and also issued a recall in some European countries and Canada.
The move comes as regulators scramble to understand why an impurity known as NDMA was found in the medicines, which are sold over the counter and by prescription. The same carcinogen was also detected last year in a class of blood pressure pills, prompting a spate of ongoing recalls, and these episodes have sparked broader concerns over the quality of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
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The terms ‘possible’ and ‘over a lifetime’ jumped out at me. Allowing that this is a potential carcinogen, I hear echos of the furor when it was realized that acetominaphine was not completely benign.
More to come on this post, I am sure.